Deep beams are encountered in structural systems as transfer girders, pile caps, pier caps, etc., which are critical in shear. After initial flexural cracking, load directly transfers to supports in deep beam through tied arch mechanism. The strength of deep…
Deep beams are encountered in structural systems as transfer girders, pile caps, pier caps, etc., which are critical in shear. After initial flexural cracking, load directly transfers to supports in deep beam through tied arch mechanism. The strength of deep beams depends on capacity of diagonal struts. The strut capacity is estimated by reducing the uniaxial compressive strength of concrete by a factor known as strut efficiency factor. The strut efficiency factor accounts for the effect of diagonal splitting tension (bottle-shaped strut). In the present study, the strut efficiency factors developed for bottle-shaped struts are validated with the experimental results on isolated concrete struts. The width of loading plate and height of strut are the variables for the experimental investigations. Total twelve unreinforced concrete struts were tested. It has been found that there seems no reduction in strength of bottle-shaped strut as compared to uniaxial compressive strength.